Company
by GodsmackedHalfbreed
Summary: Thanks to a simple, tiny misunderstanding, the entire Investigation Squad will be visiting Naoto's house.
1. Traitor

Hey everybody! Yep, I've already got another story hot on the grill for you all. This one will be a multi-chapter story, but it shouldn't go anywhere past 10 at the absolute most. Once again, we have FortunesRevolver to thank for BETAing for me on this chapter. And I'm proud to say that I wrote this one all on my own *thunderous applause*. Yeah, my first full chapter in years. It kinda brings a tear to my eye *sniff**sniff*. Okay, just go on and read already and let a man have his moment!

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The Investigation Squad was sitting at its usual table at the edge of the Junes food court. It was the middle of the afternoon and they had spent most of the day simply sitting there and enjoying one another's company.

The weather report had guaranteed sunny skies for two weeks and they felt that it was a wise idea to take advantage of the good weather and relax for a while, allowing themselves a chance to act like regular teenagers. However, for the last few hours they had yet to do much in regard of figuring out how they would spend their newfound vacation from TV exploration. Most of the time had been spent lounging around and doing all of nothing.

At the table a certain shaggy-haired brunette was trying to get a point across to his equally brunette friend. "Are you kidding me!? Are you really going to sit there with a straight face and try to tell me that Jet Li is better than Jackie Chan?"

"Yes! Because it's true! Have you seen the things he does in his movies?" Chie asked back.

"Yes, I have! And it's nothing but wire work! Jackie Chan does almost ALL his own stunts!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Not all of Jet Li's movies have him floating around on a wire! When he's actually fighting, it's all him! So what if he doesn't jump off buildings or run up walls, it doesn't change the fact that he's still a good martial artist and a pretty decent actor to boot!" Chie argued back.

"Jackie Chan can sing!" Yosuke retorted out of the blue.

"What in the world does that have to do with _anything?"_ Chie asked, caught off guard by the irrelevant comment.

This had been the conversation, if it could be called that, for the past ten minutes. The remaining members had thought it amusing at first, but after the first few minutes, with the argument seeming to have no end in sight, all but Teddie seemed to have gotten bored with the display.

"Jeez... How long do ya think they can argue before they finally get bored of buttin' heads with each other?" Kanji asked.

"I have no idea but it sure is getting really old, really fast." Rise stated as she sipped on the straw of her drink. "I've actually met both of them and they're pretty much equal in fighting and acting skill. Jackie _does _do more of his own stunts though..."

"Have you really, Rise-chan? Ooh, what are they like?" asked the heiress to the Amagi Inn.

"Oh, they're both really nice. We met at a restaurant after one of my shows and we got to talking. I don't think there's really any point of trying to compare them to each other… You'll just end up with a big headache, like the one I've got right now just listening to these two trying to do it." she answered, gesturing to the bickering pair.

"Oh, let them have their little tiff. After all, it's only going to bring them closer together. It's just another stepping stone on the path to them eventually becoming a couple." Yukiko commented.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Yukiko-senpai. I just wish their stepping stones could be more subtle and romantic. That would be so much sweeter and a lot less grating on my ears." Rise sighed.

Souji, who up until now had been idly sipping at his soda while reading the 'missing peoples' and 'weather' sections of the Inaba Post, lowered his paper down so as to observe the fighting duo.

Chuckling softly, he said, "Well, it's better for them to express their inner feelings and thoughts out in the open rather than keeping them bottled up inside." he turned back to his paper. "If they started doing that again, _then_ I'd be worried. We don't need a repeat performance from their shadows again."

"You know, I actually read somewhere that the more two people fight, the more they care for one another." Yukiko said thoughtfully.

Kanji rotated his head that was resting on his chin on the table towards Yukiko. "You sure, Senpai? That seems kinda contradictin' if you ask me. Besides, look at them going at it. It's only a matter of time before things start to get physical."

"Compare 'Hero' to 'The Tuxedo'! I can't even take Jackie Chan seriously as an actor! He does _not_ act the way a true martial artist is supposed to!" Chie yelled.

"Oh, and like you would have any idea of how a true martial artist is supposed to act." Yosuke countered.

"What the-! Now just what is _that_ supposed to mean!?"

"And here it comes... Hey Senpai, you sure we shouldn't break 'em up?" Kanji asked Souji.

Turning his attention from the paper to the two bickering friends, he sighed. "Well... maybe we should keep them at an arm's length from each other…"

"If you ask me, their argument seems incredibly childish. Such petty squabbles should be unbecoming of upperclassmen." one Naoto Shirogane stated sipping on her drink.

"Hey, can I ask something over here!" a certain flamboyantly dressed blonde asked turning from the pair to the rest of the group. "Who exactly are these Jackie Chan and Jet Li guys?"

"They're movie actors, Teddie." Rise informed the bishie.

"Oh, so they're actors, huh? Hm..." Teddie began to rub his chin and an intense look of thought on his face.

After a couple seconds of this his eyes popped open "I've decided! Teddie wants to see these guys' movies!" he exclaimed to the world while standing up from his chair and pointing dramatically into the air.

The remaining four squad members sweatdropped at Teddie's antics, although it really wasn't unexpected of him.

"Well sorry Ted, but I ain't got either of their movies." Kanji said, shrugging.

"Yeah, sorry Teddie but I don't either. Being on the road all the time, I don't really get the chance to watch movies all that often." Rise stated.

"Same goes for me. Working at the inn keeps my schedule pretty full so I don't really have that many movies myself." stated the crimson adorned heiress.

"I'm more of a book reader than a movie watcher, so I don't have any either, sorry Teddie." Souji said, offering his blonde friend an apologetic smile.

"Ooh, how could this world be...so....cruuueeell?!" Teddie whimpered overdramatically.

Naoto watched this exchange with a wary eye. Seeing the tears that began to well up in Teddie's puppy dog eyes, she decided action should be taken.

Pulling her drink from her lips she stated, "Well Teddie, if no one else seems to be able to assist you, I suppose I will. Yakushiji-san is somewhat of a martial arts movie enthusiast. He has many movies from many different time periods, starring various actors. I'm sure that I could convince him to allow you to see some of them."

Teddie looked to Naoto as if she were his messiah. He ran up to her, took her hands in his and said, "Oh, Nao-chan! Are you inviting me to come and watch movies over at your house?"

"Wh-what? N-no, that's not what I was imply-" Naoto stuttered.

"Are you really? Hey, I want to go to Naoto-kun's house too! I've never been there before and I'd totally like to see what it's like!" Rise chirped.

"Rise-san! Please, you misunderstand. I didn't invite Teddie to-"

"Hey, that sounds like fun! I'd like to come too, if that's alright." Yukiko said smiling at Naoto.

"Count me in too! You live in some kinda estate thing, right? I'd like to see what that's like." Kanji said, smirking.

As everyone invited themselves to Naoto's house, Yosuke and Chie had halted their argument for the first and were listening in on what the others were saying. When they heard what they assumed to be Naoto inviting everyone to watch Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies at her house they immediately jumped on it.

"Hey yeah, we'll watch the movies at Naoto-kun's house! Then you'll have to finally submit to the fact that you are wrong!" Yosuke stated into Chie's face.

"Yeah? Well I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you! You just wait and see because I think you forget who you're talking to, Yosuke Hanamura! I eat, drink and breathe martial arts and martial arts movies, so if there's anybody here who would be the expert in this discussion, it would be me!" Chie asserted getting in Yosuke's face.

While all this madness was taking place Naoto was looking around, feeling utterly ignored and not having a clue about what to do. With Rise, Kanji, Yukiko and Teddie all talking about their predictions of what Naoto's house would be like and Yosuke and Chie continuing back into their battle, everyone seemed to be getting the wrong idea.

In desperation, she looked to the one person she believed she could count on.

"Senpai! I beg you, could you please try to talk some sense into them?" she pleaded to Souji.

Souji folded his paper up and put it on the table. He took his drink and finished the last of it. After putting the empty cup down onto the table he looked up at Naoto with a warm look in his eyes and a pleasant smile on his face.

"When would be an appropriate time for us to come by, Naoto-kun?"

_Senpai... you traitor._


	2. Always There

Hey guys, not much to say here. I'd like to thank FortunesRevolver for, once again, BETAing this chapter for me. If not for her, this one would have come out as a complete and utter mess! That's about it.

_Ahh, I can't believe Senpai would do that to me! Now, because he had to have his little laugh, I need to hurry and get the house ready. Everything is a complete mess! I can't let Senpai or the others see it in the state it's in!"_

Naoto had been running around the estate for the past hour trying to make it presentable for her friends. The Shirogane Family weren't by any regards the stereotypical, uptight, snooty rich family that most people would think of, but they _were_ proper and knew how to treat their guests. Misanori had asked that Yakushiji prepare the food and drinks and to also fetch his movies, while Naoto had been told to straighten up the rooms. Her friends were expected to arrive within the next forty minutes.

Having finished straightening up, Naoto went to have a talk with her grandfather. She found him in his study, sitting near the window to allow the sunlight from outside splash across the pages of the book he was reading. He seemed to be regarding it with lukewarm concentration, as if the slightest distraction would completely tear his attention for it asunder. Hearing her enter his eyes looked up and gave her a welcoming look.

"Oh, Naoto! I suppose you've finished straightening up the rooms. So then, do you need something?" Misanori asked.

"Grandpa? Should we really be using the home theater and making the cooks make a three course meal? You don't think maybe this is all a little too extravagant or showy?" Naoto asked.

"Showy? Of course not! We live in an estate for heaven's sake! Our entire house could be considered too extravagant or flashy. Besides, these are the first friends you've ever brought over and I want them to feel as comfortable and welcome as they possibly can. Don't you feel the same, Nao-chan?" Misanori asked his granddaughter.

"Yes, I suppose so." Naoto conceded, letting her eyes drift down to the floor.

Misanori's keen detective's eye took note of this. He walked up to Naoto and, gently taking hold of her chin, tilted her head upwards, forcing her to look him in the eyes. Misanori's steel-blue orbs met the sky-gray gaze of his granddaughter. With a warm smile and a kind crinkle around his eyes he asked "What's troubling you, Nao-chan?"

"Nothing is troubling me grandpa." she replied, averting her eyes off to the right of her grandfather..

"Naoto... Don't think you can hide what you're feeling from me. I've known you longer than anyone else has and I'm not a nation-wide renowned detective for nothing. I can tell when anyone, even you, is lying to me. Now... Tell me, what's wrong?" the elderly man inquired, letting his hand drop from Naoto's chin.

Naoto shifted her eyes back to Misanori's, looked away again, back and then away again. She always cursed how her grandfather was able pierce through her defenses and into her very being. He didn't need to carefully maneuver his way around her in order to see the true her; he simply broke through all the facades, mirages and red-herrings she had implanted within herself in order to keep herself safe.

"Well... you see, it... i-it's about one of my friends." Naoto began.

"Hm? One of your friends? Which one?" Misanori questioned.

"The one I've told you about." she replied, tilting her head down so as to allow the visor of her hat to cover her eyes.

"You wouldn't happen to mean that young Seta boy, do you?"

Pulling her cap down further in an attempt to cover the blush that was spreading across her face, Naoto simply answered with a small nod. Misanori chuckled to himself, amused. He could still remember the day, detail for detail, he had inquired to Naoto about how her school life and her newfound friends. She vaguely described how school was as well as the vast majority of her friends. But once she began to tell about one friend in particular, he saw something within his granddaughter that he had never seen before.

She was talking about a certain young man named Souji Seta. When she talked about this boy, her voice had an enthusiasm to it that he had only ever heard when she was deeply enthralled with a mystery or puzzle. Her eyes sparkled with a radiance that he had remembered seeing in only two other people in his life; his son and daughter-in-law.

When she had told him about him, she seemed almost like a completely different person. She seemed almost like any other ordinary high school girl. Not 'Naoto the Junior Detective' or 'Naoto Shirogane: The Detective Prince', at that moment... she was just Naoto: His Granddaughter. The one he thought he would never live to see. The one who was into make-up, clothes, dolls, boys, celebrities, movies, texting... the one whom he believed had never existed. From an early age, she had always been that little girl who had secluded herself off within his library reading Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler and Edgar Allen Poe. The little inventor who had sat at his workbench in the garage for hours, pouring over a little gadget that she would be trying to build.

For the first time in his life he had seen what she could have been if she had been like all the other girls in her class. If she hadn't been born as such a brilliant girl. He saw her then, in that moment in time, as if she were just like any other high schooler. Now, Misanori in no way disliked who she was. She was his Naoto; she was smart, dedicated, perceptive and passionate. All the things that would allow her to one day become a great detective. But as proud as he was of her for that, he could never stop himself from wondering what it would have been like if she never had to deal with the things she does. If she was never introduced or exposed to the world of murder, backstabbing, bribery, mongering, rape and stealing.

In that moment, he saw a granddaughter that could have lived without a care in the world; who was able to go out on the weekends and hang out with her friends, go to parties and dances, sneak out at night with her boyfriend, drive to the beach or hang out and shop at the mall. He saw a granddaughter who could live and laugh everyday, where the biggest things she had to worry about were keeping her GPA up and getting her driver's license. Not a day has gone by since the time when she had told him she wanted to be a detective that he hasn't thought of what that life could have been like. Where he could have been the grandpa who stood on the porch at nine o'clock at night waving goodbye to her with a smile on his face as she ran down the driveway into her friends car, going off to do only God knows what.

To anybody else, it might have seemed like such a small thing, seeing her like this, but to him-it was a glimpse into a world that could have been. It almost caused him to break out in tears, which he was able to hold back for the sake of not wanting to worry and interrupt Naoto. The way she talked about Souji, it was plain as day for him to see.

Love is a very distinct and easily recognizable emotion and first love is especially easy to see and hard to hide. By the time Naoto had finished and left the room, Misanori had no doubts in his mind. With a smile, he sat back in his chair and thought, _My granddaughter is in love._

Looking at his blushing grandchild, he stated with a chuckle, "You're nervous about him coming to our house, aren't you?"

Naoto's blush turned a shade deeper than it previously was and once again all she could do was simply nod, causing Misanori's smile to widen. He took Naoto's cap by the brim and gingerly lifted it off her head whereupon he placed his hand onto her head, running his hand back and forth over her cerulean hair.

Naoto looked up at him with a confused and questioning stare. Once again, he simply smiled at her.

"Naoto... New experiences, more often than not, will be frightening at first. It is human nature to fear things that are new, different or unexplainable. But what is also part of human nature is the ability to adapt and accommodate to these things. That is especially so for us Shiroganes. I understand how you feel, but both of our lives and the things we love to do require us to take new experiences by the hand and bring them into our lives... and us into theirs."

Putting her cap back onto her head, he continued to look into her eyes "Despite how brilliant you may be, regardless or your mature disposition, you are still so young. There are many things in life that you still know nothing about and you are about to embark on one of the most testing and turbulent journeys this world has to offer.

"You will be taking a chance and making a commitment that many people far beyond your years have either failed at or are too fearful to take. And I just want you to know, that on this journey of yours, every step that you take—I will always be there for you Naoto."

The warmth and tenderness of Misanori's words had clamped onto Naoto and sunken through her skin and touched her at her very core and her eyes began to mist. When her parents died, she didn't think there could be anybody or anything in this world that could take their place. She had tried to fill the emptiness that was left by indulging herself within every form or aspect of their practice. Feeling that if she could enter into what was once their world, she could in some way feel like they were still there with her. Of course as she grew older she realised how impractical, illogical and childish this notion was. As a result, she secluded herself off within the deepest reaches of her psyche and blockaded herself from all that would try to get close to her.

Despite her constant protests and insistence that she was fine, her grandfather, even back then, could see the pain that existed within her. She couldn't hide from him and she knew it and she had eventually confided in him one night which eventually led to her bawling in his arms in this very study. From that day on, he had progressively begun to fill the void that had been left for all that time. His strong and stern characteristics along with his warmth and gentleness caused an extraordinarily comforting contrast. He had single handedly become the most important person in her life, and had been for many years. That was, until now.

Someone else had come into her world and had not only aided her grandpa in filling the remainder of the void, but also filling even the innermost and darkest regions of herself with radiance. She didn't exactly know when it happened but somewhere along the line, somewhere intermingled between their investigation of the murders and their chase of the Phantom thief—she had fallen in love.

She had fallen in love with Souji Seta.

She had never thought herself capable of feeling an emotion she had always thought of as nothing more than superficial infatuation, but lo and behold her now. She always felt an irrational sense of giddiness that she constantly fought to hide whenever he was around or even mentioned. In just a few short weeks, he had turned her into one of the people she herself would have looked at with a slight sense of revulsion.

Souji had not only saved her from herself inside the TV world, but he had given her so much more. In the short amount of time she had known him he had done what no one else in the world seemed to have been able to do for her in the fifteen years she had been alive... He had given her a place to belong; a reason to stay. A feeling of being wanted, not just for her brains and ingenuity but for being her, for being a child, for being a woman; for being Naoto Shirogane.

He had become a person who was indispensable to her. He was so precious to her that she could hardly believe it; hardly able to believe that in almost no time at all he had made her fall completely head over heels in love with him. He set her soul alight and it didn't seem logical for such a strong emotion to simply fly out of the blue all of a sudden. She had fully expected that, if she ever did fall in love, it would be a very slow and gradual process and that she at the very least be aware of it. But this time, she had been completely blind-sided.

She had heard many terms such as 'being struck by Cupid's arrow', 'love at first sight' or 'there was an instant connection between us'. She had thought these as nothing more than common hyperboles people tossed around casually everyday to describe an immediate, primitive attraction. She had not known how wrong she had been.

As her vision began to become blurred from the welling tears in her eyes, she allowed herself to fall forward and gently land within her grandfather's loving embrace. He draped his arms around her in a simple, light yet supportive hug. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to her as gentle tears flowed from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks to her smiling lips.

"Thank you. I know you'll always be there for me, you don't need to tell me that. I know… I've always known. Thank you. I love you grandpa."

"And I love you, Nao-chan. If there ever comes a time when you feel that nothing can ever be definitive or conclusive anymore, know that _that_ will always be a certainty." Misanori cooed.

Yakushiji, who had been standing out in the hall next to the door for the past minute, had taken his shades off and looked off into space with a smile on his face, a small tear rolling from his eye. Wiping it away and putting his sunglasses back on he poked his head into the study. "Naoto-san, your friends have arrived. They're waiting for you down in the lobby."

"Oh, good. Thank you Yakushiji-san." Naoto said to him with a fulfilled smile as she delicately wiped her eyes. She then smiled back at her grandpa and Misanori simply smiled back and motioned for her to go. With nothing more needing to be said or done, Naoto simply nodded and left the study to meet her friends.


	3. Holy shit

Hey everybody. This ain't the best of chapters but I'm kinda just using it as a springboard for future events. As usual, let us thank FortunesRevolver for BETAing and also for allowing me to use the name of Misanori for Naoto's grandpa(I forgot to mention that last time).

I've been having raving thoughts in my head for the past week with ideas for one story I've been recently cooking up and one that I thought of a year ago but never got around to starting. One of them will be in the 'Cartoon' section and one will be in the 'Anime/Manga' section of the site. Even I've been thinking that these ideas are really good and I'm just itching to write them, but I don't want to do what I did last time, which was to start too many stories at once, because I would end up never updating any of them. So I'm gonna try to finish this story first before starting on one of the other two. Keep your eyes peeled for them in the future!

Let's get on with it.

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"Holy...shit."

Kanji said, baffled at the lobby of the Shirogane mansion. When the Investigation Squad arrived at the bus stop that was nearest to Naoto's house they were surprised to find a black SUV and a driver waiting for them. Apparently, Naoto had sent him to pick her friends up once they arrived at the bus stop and bring them back to the estate. That in itself was already enough to garner impressed looks, but upon coming to the grand gate that was adorned with the Shirogane crest, they began to become anxious.

The driver reached out of his window in order to swipe a pass through the security box. Once that was done the gates swung open with a complimenting screech. Looking out the windows they gazed in awe at what they beheld. The estate was located relatively high up on the summit of a hill located near Yasogami. From the main building, one could guess that there must be a spectacular view of Inaba along with the surrounding countryside. The grounds of the Shirogane estate weren't particularly showy, but they exuded a sense of class and nobility. The estate had to encompass the relative vicinity of the surrounding 1200 acres. The grass was very fine and had a very deep and pleasant hue of green. The grounds consisted of many different types of trees arranged tastefully where one seemed to be needed. There were sweet chestnuts, sakura, maples, spruce and oak trees. The surrounding forest seemed to be made up of mostly pine along with redwood.

The apex of the driveway placed them right in front of the mansion itself. The driver hurried out of his seat in an attempt to get the doors for the teens but they were all already clambering out by the time he put his foot on the ground. They admired the house which seemed to be made in a type of Victorian style while not being to overt about it. The design of the house was elegant but sturdy. The windows that adorned the face of the building reached up to about 15 feet, the second level windows were shorter at about 7 feet. Even so, they were tinted so that it was impossible to see inside. The stairs leading up to the grand double mahogany door were made of granite.

The Investigation Squad were simply baffled, even Rise who had seen a fair number of mansions and estates. The beauty of the place while at the same time contrasted by its enigmatic subtlety gave off a very strange yet pleasant vibe. What made it even more pleasant was the knowledge they had that one of their friends actually lived here. The driver had left to drive the car over towards the garage, leaving the seven teens there in their awe.

About a full minute passed by in this state until someone finally spoke up.

"Holy... shit."

"Yeah, it's big." Yosuke said, stating the obvious of course.

"It sure is." Yukiko replied still not taking her eyes from the building in front of her. Almost as if it might disappear if she looked away.

"I've seen some pretty nice houses in my day, but this one takes it all to a whole new level." the teen idol spoke.

"Such a big house... for such a small girl." Teddie said while spreading his arms respectively for the measurements he was describing, all the while never taking his eyes off the house.

"Should... should we, you know, go and knock on the door?" Chie asked who, like everyone else, was staring at the house.

"Yeah, let's go." Souji said, tearing his eyes from the edefice as he began up the stairs to the door and the others followed soon after.

At the door, Souji was having a little bit of a problem. A silly one at that, but a problem none the less. This was the first time he had ever been to a house of this magnitude and class. He didn't know whether to ring the doorbell, use the knocker or simply knock on the door himself. Knocking on the door and using the bell seemed too informal for requesting entrance to a house like this yet using the knocker seemd like it would possibly scratch or put a dent in the door which seemed almost like it would cost as much as a car. He stood there for a good fifteen or twenty seconds looking back and forth between the door and the bell, wondering what to do. Finally Yosuke pushed on his shoulder saying "Would you do something already?"

"Okay, alright." Souji said, finally deciding to use the knocker, which strangely seemed to be in the shape of Yamato Takeru's head. He gave the door a good three raps before backing off. Within seconds a man wearing shades, who Souji recognized as Yakushiji, came to the door.

"Ah, hello! Welcome, we have been expecting you. Please, please come in." he said standing to the side and ushering them in. If they had been flabbergasted at the exterior of the house, the inside caused them to become stupefied. The floor was polished marble which gave off an underbearing sheen. Upon entering the building, one would see the dual, polar staircases that led up to the second floor. Between them was a statue, also made of marble, that depicted detection's greatest son: Sherlock Holmes. The effigy had Holmes sitting upon the plinth with his left leg crossed over the right. He wears neither his coat nor his signature deerstalker's cap. He rests his arm on his crossed leg while holding his calabash pipe to his mouth. On the plinth is a plaque that reads his famous words;

_"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."_

A neo-classical chandelier hung from the ceiling, which must have been at least twenty feet high. On opposite sides of the lobby were doorless entrances that led off into other rooms as well as on the left side of the right staircase and the right side of the left staircase, however these both had doors.

It was almost as if they were right back where they started outside, with the bug eyes and the drooping mouths.

Yakushiji started up the stairs as he turned around and said, "Naoto-sama is most likely in the study. Please wait here while I go get her for you." And with that he had ascended the stairs and headed down the hall. Several moments passed once again in stupefied silence while they all took in the room they were in. However, there was only so much in this one room to admire that, after another thirty seconds or so of gaping, they were able to get a hold of themselves.

"Okay, so I'm guessing Naoto and her family are like, filthy-stinking rich?" Yosuke asked, though his tone suggested it was a rhetorical question.

"Well, you think they would have a fair bit of money. I mean, Naoto-kun's grandpa _is_ a nation-wide famous detective. But I never would have thought that you could get this kind of money from doing detective work." Chie answered.

"Yeah, I thought that freelance detectives were kind of an outdated workforce. With the police force, they aren't really needed as much anymore." Yukiko said.

"Well, Naoto's grandfather has been in the business for a while. He was probably working way back when when consultation with PI's was still a norm. He's probably solved hundreds of cases. That kind of success, spanning over a long career, would probably build up an impressive bank account." Souji said as he read the Holmes quote on the plaque.

"This is so awesome! I want to come Nao-chan's house everyday! I can't believe she has a house like this and never told us! She shouldn't be so stingy! She should have told us sooner! She should have..." Teddie continued to babble on as he ran around the lobby trying to take in everything at once. All of a sudden, he stopped, looked up and seemed to become entranced by the chandelier. Then, he laid down on the ground directly below...and just stared at it. Everybody sweatdropped at this, but no one was willing to ask the blond what he was doing.

Kanji spoke up, "If this is just the front room, I'm kinda eager ta see what the rest of the house looks like. It's exciting, ya know? Having a rich friend and only suddenly finding out they're rich."

"Hey, I'm rich too you know..." Rise sighed, then grumbled, "Just because I don't have a big house and whatnot."

"Yeah, but we already knew you were an idol before we even met you. It's... different, ya know?" Kanji said back to the idol who gave a little 'hmph'.

"Well, I hope Naoto shows up soon. I want to be able to show Chie how wrong she is about this whole Jet Li/Jackie Chan thing." Yosuke said nonchalantly.

"I don't think so, mister! You'll see, once we get those movies rolling you'll _have_ to submit to the fact that you know absolutely nothing about kung fu movies!" Chie roared back at Yosuke.

"We'll see. Hey, what do you say we make it a little more interesting?" Yosuke asked.

"More interesting how?" Chie inquired.

"Ooh, ooh! I know! How about whoever loses has to take the winner on an all-expence-paid date!" Rise squealed while bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"WHAT!?" Chie and Yosuke exclaimed at the idol. "WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I WANT TO GO OUT WITH HER/HIM!?" they asked pointing towards one another.

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" Yukiko said enthusiastically.

"NO WAY!" the two brunettes continued to shout in unison.

"Oh, come on! Think about it: You both think you're right and if you can prove it to the other one, you'll be able to have them take you and buy you whatever you want!" Rise said trying to explain the pros of her plan. "Think about it Chie-senpai. You could have him buy you all the steak you could eat. Even filet mignon!"

This got Chie thinking, and drooling a little. "You know, it's not such a bad idea." she reasoned.

"Oh no! Nuh uh! Not gonna happen! There's no way I'm gonna be paying for a filet steak dinner for you!" he stated adamantly.

"Why, what's wrong Yosuke? Afraid I'm right?" Chie asked smugly.

"No of course not, because you're not!" Yosuke defended himself.

"So then what's the big deal? I'll take the bet if you will." she said with finality in her voice as she put her hand out to him.

Yosuke looked at it with apprehension and then looked around the room, looking for anybody to help him out of this situation that he had mistakingly gotten himself into. Seeing no lifeline in anyone and with his pride on the line, he grudgingly shook Chie's hand, sealing the deal.

"Alright then. I'll be looking forward to that filet." Chie said.

"Don't count on it. Wait and see, by the time this is all over, I'll have come up with something even worse and more expensive than filet for you to buy me." Yosuke threatened as he took his hand from Chie's. Souji chuckled softly to himself, though it did not go unnoticed by Yosuke who sent him a dirtly look.

At that moment, they heard a voice from atop the stairs.

"Hello everyone. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I hope you haven't been wai..." Naoto stopped talking once she saw what each of her friends were holding. "...Why are you all carrying bags?"

Each of her friends, aside from Teddie, looked at their bags and then back at Naoto with slight looks of confusion.

"They're for our clothes and whatnot, silly! Why else would we be carrying them?" Rise explained.

Naoto looked at the idol with a degree of shock on her face "You mean...you all are going to be spending the night?" she asked looking around at all her friends with a hint of trepidation in her voice. As her eyes swept over the crowd they suddenly came to rest on Souji. Seeing him with his bag slung over his shoulder as well suddenly caused the detective's face to glow a faint shade of red.

Chie spoke up "Well Naoto-kun, we felt that we would need to watch various amounts of Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies in order to really tell which one is better than the other. That would obviously take a while, so we brought our stuff over to tie us over for the night. We figured you would have thought of that."

Naoto, usually not one to let others see what was happening beneath the veil of her outer self, had a fairly shellshocked expression upon her face "O-oh...yes of-of course. That's...that's a reasonable and natural assumption. Yes, that makes sense. It would take quite some time to be able to comparatively watch movies with the intent of discerning whether the stars of said movies are better than the other." Taking a slight pause, she continued "Please excuse me for a moment."

Naoto then turned back around and climbed up the stairs. After she had gone, Chie addressed the rest of the group "You think maybe we should have called to see if it was alright to spend the night?"

"Well maybe. But come on, did you see her? She's totally fine with it!" Yosuke assured.

Naoto was making her way back to the study where she had left Misanori. Though her countenance suggested other wise, inside her thoughts were storming frantic. She had never entertained guests before, let alone for a whole night!


End file.
